Research/Teaching

Research Synopsis

Mouse Imaging Centre (MICe)

With the completion of the human genome, a major outstanding question in biomedical research is the relationship between genes and normal development or disease. Over this century, much of this will be worked out using mouse models of human diseases, because the genes and their function in the mouse are very similar to the human.

When we look for human diseases in the human population, we make extensive use of medical imaging. Therefore, it makes sense to have available the same imaging capabilities as we investigate mice for models of human disease.

We have, therefore, built the Mouse Imaging Centre (MICe) with high field magnetic resonance imaging microscopy, ultrasound biomicroscopy, micro computed tomography, and optical techniques. With these imaging tools, we screen randomly mutagenized mice to look for phenotypes that represent human diseases. Also, we will take established human disease models in mice and use imaging to follow the progression of disease and response to treatment over time. Imaging has a major contribution to make to phenotyping genetic variants and to characterizing mouse models.

This major new centre, which became operational in 2002, is staffed by an exciting team of 33 investigators with expertise in imaging techniques, computer science, imaging processing, developmental biology, mouse pathology, etc.